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Polar Bears & Ice Holes

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Two dice as played in Polar Bears & Ice Holes

Polar Bears & Ice Holes

Fun lateral thinking puzzle to sharpen observation skills.

  • Easy set-up
  • Simple, but not easy
  • Promotes critical thinking
  • Powerful metaphor
  • Great time-filler

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Gather your group in front of you.
  2. Roll all three dice onto a surface so the results can be viewed by all.
  3. Announce that there is X number of polar bears and X number of ice holes present.
  4. Secret key: the centre dot on the top side of any one or more of the dice is an ice hole (found on 1, 3 and 5 only) and all other dots (on top) are polar bears, eg a 5 features 1 ice hole and 4 polar bears.
  5. Roll all three dice for multiple rounds and continue to report on the changing number of polar bears and ice holes that appear.
  6. Challenge your group to accurately count the number of polar bears and ice holes in each round.
  7. Gradually provide more obvious clues with each successive roll until everyone can ‘see’ the polar bears and ice holes represented by the dice.

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Have you played this activity? What worked, what didn't work? What type of group? Do you have useful advice for other users? Do you know a fun variation?

Comments (2)

  1. PhilG112

    I wasn’t sure what to do with 6. Are the two dots in the middle ice holes or polar bears?

    Reply
    • Mark Collard

      Phil, a 6 on the die means just 6 x polar bears (no ice holes.) As described in the instructions, only odd numbers (1, 3 & 5) feature an ice hole because there is a dot smack in the middle of the die’s top face. Make sense?

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